East Penn School District Cell Phone Policy (2026-27)

East Penn School District enrolled 7,851 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Emmaus High School lets each class pick its storage method, and keeps homeroom, lunch and study hall open for phones.

East Penn phone rules today

From East Penn's 2026-27 materials:

• Elementary: phones and smartwatches are off and in a backpack or locker all day. Unauthorized use means the phone is held in the main office for parent pickup.
• Emmaus High School, during class: phones, earbuds and smartwatches go into desk pouches collected in a secure box, or into classroom caddies. The teacher and class choose the method in the first week. The same applies during Hornet Huddle and Learning Lab.
• Emmaus High School, outside class: phones are allowed at lunch, in homeroom (except Thursday Hornet Huddle) and in study halls. Teachers may allow a short break of under three minutes.
• Health monitoring: students who monitor a health condition with their phone get a clear pouch.
• District devices stay at school, and students cannot use YouTube on them, under the district's 2026-27 AI and technology update.

What Act 117 requires of East Penn by 2027-28

Gov. Josh Shapiro approved SB 1014 on October 26, 2026. It is Act 117 of 2026, and it took effect that day. The text is Printer's No. 1697 on palegis.us. Every school entity must adopt a bell-to-bell policy by the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Act 117 requires	East Penn today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Elementary all day; Emmaus HS allows lunch, homeroom and study hall	End homeroom, lunch and study hall use at Emmaus. Act 117 names homeroom specifically.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Desk pouches in a secure box, or classroom caddies	Extend restriction beyond class periods.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Clear pouch for health monitoring	Keep it; add English learner translation, a family member's medical need, IEP/504 and the instructional-use limits.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Teacher-allowed short breaks	Breaks for phone use would no longer fit; other exceptions capped at one school day.
Written notice each year and on enrollment: a staffed way to reach your child, and how to sign up for emergency notifications	Not stated	Written notice each year and on enrollment of a staffed contact method and emergency sign-up.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Handbook site	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Emmaus's clear pouch for health monitoring is a practical way to handle the medical exception. A student can see a glucose alert without using the phone for anything else.

Where LockedIn fits

Emmaus already collects phones every class period. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so homeroom, lunch and study hall could be covered without adding more collection, and it can run alongside the pouches.

Act 117 has no general student emergency-use exception. The closest tool is the optional principal exception, which is capped at one school day and reported to the superintendent within five days afterward. LockedIn's Emergency Mode unlocks every phone on campus at once, so districts should have counsel review how that fits their emergency procedures and Act 117's exception rules.

Private and independent schools in the East Penn area

Act 117's definition of "school entity" includes private schools, approved private schools and nonpublic schools, so the East Penn area's private, independent and parochial schools need their own bell-to-bell policy by 2027-28. For those schools, the governing body plays the role the superintendent plays in a district, including receiving notice of any principal-approved exception.

Draft a policy that tracks Act 117's required exceptions and family notices with our policy generator.